Justice I.M Buba of the Federal High Court sitting in Enugu has convicted and sentenced Chinedu Ayogu Christopher to 14 years imprisonment on internet- related offences.
Christopher was arraigned on January 25, 2021, on two- count charges bordering on obtaining by false pretences and cybercrimes
One of the counts reads:, “that you Chinedu Ayogu Christopher (Alias Austin Leo), sometime in August 2020 at Enugu within the jurisdiction of this court was in possession of a document containing a false pretence knowing that what the document contained was false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 6 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act”.
The defendant jumped bail after his arraignment and after three adjournments, in accordance with Section 352(4) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, Justice Buba adjourned the matter to September 30, 2021 for adoption of a final written address by the prosecution. The Judge on February 10 ,2022 found the defendant guilty, convicted him in absentia and ordered that a bench warrant earlier issued against him, be executed and the convict brought before the court for sentencing.
Christopher was re-arrested on March 11, 2022 and presented before the court on Wednesday, March 23,2022. Justice Buba sentenced him to seven years imprisonment each on the two counts. The sentences are to run concurrently.
The convict’s journey to the Correctional Centre began in 2020 when he was arrested by operatives of the Enugu Zonal Command of the EFCC on alleged cybercrimes. He was charged to court and eventually convicted.